1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fire fighting, and in particular, to a delivery system for delivering water or other fire retardants onto a wild fire to insure that the water or fire retardants are delivered to the desired location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fire fighting in urban and suburban areas is usually accomplished by a plurality of fire trucks having access to a water supply system which allows the fire trucks to deliver a desired quantity of water onto the fire as desired. In some occasions because of the nature of the fire, the fire trucks utilize fire retardants other than water, such as foam and/or powders to extinguish the fires. The advantage in urban and suburban areas is the availability of the plurality of fire trucks and the availability of a supply system, e.g. hydrants for supplying the water.
Wild fires normally occur in extremely rural or wilderness areas which makes it difficult to marshal a plurality of fire trucks in order to fight the blaze, and the situation is further complicated in that there is not normally a water supply system in place in extremely rural or wilderness areas where fire trucks, if available, would have access to a quantity of water necessary to extinguish the blaze. Therefore the firefighting of wild fires in rural and wilderness areas requires a different strategy from that of urban and suburban areas.
Typically, wilderness wild fires are fought by means of attempting to deny the wild fire further kindling so as to extend its area. Fire fighters cut fire breaks to remove the source of kindling and/or start back fires so as to burn kindling in an area before the wild fire reaches that area.
The use of water in fighting wild fires is limited, unless there is a source of water nearby such as a stream or lake in which a fire pumper could position a hose and pump and pump water to the fire. In most instances the delivery of water or a fire retardant to a wild fire is accomplished by a helicopter carrying a bladder of water or a water tanker airplane designed to carry water or fire retardant.
The deficiency in these two delivery systems is that the helicopter or the plane must fly significantly higher than the flames, smoke and heat generated by the wild fire and that the water and/or fire retardant released from the bladder suspended from the helicopter or from the water tanker is subject to the vagaries of the wind conditions and the heat of the fire. In many instances the water or fire retardant will not hit the designated target but will be shifted by the wind and depending upon the ferocity of the fire, any water so dropped may in effect evaporate before it hits the ground and can perform its intended task.
There is therefore a need for a system and apparatus which can accurately deliver water or fire retardant to a designated spot in a wild fire situation and which apparatus can be economically fabricated, economically filled, and economically loaded onto a particular aircraft for delivery and which insures that the water or fire retardant contained therein is not evaporated or effected before it reaches its intended destination.